Last week, I hosted a squirt bottle painting playdate. Squirt bottles + colored water + paper = happy kids! They sprayed so quickly that the water didn't really soak into the poster board, but they didn't care!
The kids did a nice job of sharing to end up with a nice waterfall of colors. They all had such fun!
We all enjoyed owl s'mores when the masterpieces were completed.
October is Clergy & Staff Appreciation Month. I am a staff liaison at my church, so I was asked to honor a couple staff members with a special gift.
I made each of them a coffee cozy and included a gift card to Starbucks. I packaged them up and added a tag saying "Thanks a "latte" for your hard work!" (Idea found here.)
I'm linking up to Made by You Mondays at Skip to my Lou so you can see other crafters' creative ideas.
I made Molly a new outfit for the Fall. A ruffled peasant top and coordinating easy-fit pants, perfect for wearing tomorrow for "green day" at school!
Molly wanted all red buttons, but Mommy won with a blue one in the middle!
Here's a close-up of the ruffles:
I'm linking up to Made by You Mondays at Skip to my Lou so you can see others' creative ideas.
As previously mentioned, Molly started preschool last week. I made her this peasant-style dress and thought the "Hopscotch Girls" fabric would be perfect for her first day. Being three, she couldn't wait to actually wear it on her first day, so she and Daddy had a photo shoot in her new dress last month.
And why are Molly's hands up, you might ask.
It's a fun game of stick throwing, where Molly has a great time throwing the stick in the air.
This game of throwing the stick in the air and while Chad took her picture went on for about 15 minutes.
I'm linking up to Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple so you can see other crafters newest creations.
We've been getting deliveries from South Mountain Veggies and South Mountain Creamery for several weeks. Every Thursday morning it's like Christmas on our porch to see what "the farmer" brings!
Some weeks I've had to be more creative in my cooking in order to use what comes in our share. I made pizza from scratch one night. Homemade tomato sauce, homemade whole wheat crust, fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh red onions, fresh garlic, and some mozzarella. Yum.
I've also cooked some new things like eggplant and fennel, and one of the best things is that Chad has come around to tomatoes now that they are über fresh.
The days of waking up early for school! Molly was so excited for her first day of preschool.
It's important to practice thinking before going off to school for the first time.
The teacher's report at the end of the day was that in her 10 years it was her best first day - no tears and no accidents! By Molly's second day, she ran in without a hug or kiss goodbye, and I got merely a wave without even a look back. Hello Miss Independent! It's going to be an exciting adventure for us all.
Leah is turning One,
Flutter by and join the fun!
We celebrated Leah's birthday with family and friends last weekend. Leah wore her Mommy-made party dress and a festive butterfly bow. Despite still being sick (we discovered later this was the roseola virus), Leah shared some smiles at her birthday party.
Upon arrival, each child at the party got a butterfly wand.
The bigger kids enjoyed playing with the butterfly shaped bubble wands.
Despite big sister's enthusiasm, Leah wasn't so sure about being sung to.
After a good nap and a snack, Leah was ready to open a few gifts.
There's our happy girl! Leah loves her new Dora ride-on toy, and often thinks it's cool to ride backward.
And for those interested, all the personalized party printables were bought from Bird Crafts.
We finally had Young Adult Field Day 2010 - the day of silly games our small group at church gets together for every year. It was originally planned for June (as it has been in previous years), but we delayed it so more people would be in town for it. The games include the egg race, the sack race, the 3-legged race, the hop along race, the dizzy-bat tricycle race, the dizzy-bat basketball race, the water balloon launch, the toilet-seat toss, the giant golf shot, and the tug-of-war. Lots of fun was had by all,
First up - the egg race. Here are Sandy and Michelle showing us how the transfer is done after Michelle's leg of the race.
The sack race requires less precision, but you can still get going a bit too quick as Christy demonstrates here.
Jen and Leah came until it was Leah's nap time (though they didn't participate in the games). Molly hung out the whole time and spent much of the time playing with Diana, including a lot of bouncing on the hop along.
I managed to even get a group shot of almost everyone (by telling them they couldn't start eating the pizza until they took it :).
A good time was had by all. I'm already looking forward to next year, though maybe I'll practice riding Molly's tricycle a bit before then to get ready.
Leah has taken a liking to Molly's baby doll, so for Leah's birthday Molly gave her her own baby doll.
Unfortunately, Leah woke up with a fever on her birthday, so she was not her usual happy self that day. Getting this gift was one moment of being cheerful on a generally down day.
Molly has begun a "gyn-nastics" class. She loves for Daddy to jump and swing her, so this is a great new sport for her. There are 5 kids in the class and they do a great job of listening to Miss Amanda. Leah and I hang out and watch from the waiting room.
She now likes walking on any curb to practice her balancing skills.
As you can see, there are many, many classes going on simultaneously. (Pay no attention to the woman and baby in the mirror!)
After quizzing Molly after this class, swinging from the bar was her favorite part!
